- Slug: Sports-Army Lightfoot, 634 words
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By SHAWN MORAN
Cronkite News
GILBERT — The younger brother of the 2015-16 Arizona Gatorade Basketball Player of the Year is making a name for himself this season. Leading the state and 12th in the nation in blocks (6.2), Miles Lightfoot is committed to play basketball next year at the United States Military Academy.
To Miles, his commitment to Army is about much more than basketball.
“All of the benefits and personal gain, as well as helping other people out in the long run and being able to defend your country is something that I’ve always been interested in and it’s hard to turn that down,” Miles said.
His mother Rhonda agrees.
“The initial allure for him was playing Division I basketball, but it became much more than that,” she said.
Miles’ first year in West Point will be in the Preparatory School, where he will play against other military academy prep schools before moving into the four-year program. Upon graduation, he will be required to serve for five years, making his decision much larger than the common five-year scholarship.
“I think it’s definitely different from my situation because for me it was a four-year decision and for him it was a ten-year decision,” older brother Mitch said.
Mitch Lightfoot is currently coming off the bench for the fifth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks and knows a thing or two about scoring. After averaging 22.6 points and 11.9 rebounds during his Player of the Year campaign, the forward has been a vital role player towards the Jayhawks’ success this season.
With Miles’ decision to attend Army, Rhonda also sees the contrasts in her basketball-gifted son’s recruitment.
“My husband and I were super proud of him …. committing the next 10 years of his life. There was just a different sort of pride in that commitment,” she said.
With Miles’ commitment to Army, there is a distinct difference in the Division I basketball programs for which the Lightfoots will suit up. While Kansas plays against the top competition and is in the running for a national championship annually, Army is one of 43 programs to never make it to the NCAA Tournament.
Before last season, West Point had not made a postseason appearance since legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski led the Black Knights to the NIT in 1978.
The Gilbert Christian star has enjoyed a breakout season after spending the majority of his high school career as a role player. After winning the state championship last year and having no starters return, the Knights have been exceedingly reliant on the senior center this season.
“Most games, especially games in our conference and the schools that are in 2A, he’s the biggest guy on the floor,” coach Kurt Keener said, “So, we really want to go inside and we want to pound the ball to him and get him as many shots as possible.”
Lightfoot has taken advantage of those shot opportunities this season. Averaging a team-best 14.2 points per game, he has more than quadrupled his scoring total from his junior year.
“Last year I was not an offensive player and with this role this year I’ve really built myself to become that for this team and I would like to further that and see how great of an offensive player I can become,” Lightfoot said.
To help with that will be his older brother.
“We can learn a lot from each other and we’re always helping each other out,” Mitch said.
With one week left in Gilbert Christian’s season, Miles Lightfoot is not looking past the team’s remaining opponents. He is, however, ready for his future in West Point.
“I just really want to grow myself as a person and as a basketball player. I believe that that place will make me the best person that I could possibly be.”
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